EVANS, N.Y. — Western New York is filled with beautiful resources, but if sites aren’t kept up, they will deteriorate.

“This is a regional asset,” said Town of Evans Supervisor Mary Hosler of Sturgeon Point Marina. “We have more out of town residents using it than town residents. We need state and federal help to support it. I don’t know where people thought that a town our size in a tax base this small could manage something like that.”

What You Need To Know

  • Sturgeon Point Marina is in need of repair

  • The Town of Evans supervisor says that there is a need for state and federal help to support the marina

  • The marina wall needs to be extended to reduce the amount of sand

Hosler took office in 2016. She said that Sturgeon Point Marina was purchased by the town in the 1980s in a private sale. The state also requested some regional access. Since then, the town has worked with state and federal government to create the marina as it is today.  

“With the wall and increased boat slips,” Hosler added. “And then it was ours to manage and take care of.”

Managing the marina didn’t come without difficulties. Dredging is said to have been an issue since day one. From the time the marina was opened, Hosler explained that they have paid $2.4 million in dredging costs. For a while, the Army Corps of Engineers reimbursed 12% of marina maintenance costs. However, that stopped in 2007, because it was taken out of the budget. Some progress now is being made.

“Congressman Jacobs had 10 projects that we could submit,” Hosler explained. “Ours was one of them. The $1.9 million earmark. Earmarks finally came back. They were gone for 10 years.”

While that is a positive step, Hosler says that is just the beginning.

“It wasn’t just supposed to be a marina,” Hosler said.  “There was supposed to be development. There’s 69 acres back there to be developed into something that would create some tourism dollars.”

She added that the marina wall needs to be repaired and extended to reduce the amount of sand. And new docks are needed to generate more revenue. Right now, the boat slips are 15 years over shelf life.